A NEW KRODA ALBUM IS COMING: “GINNUNGAGAP-GINNUNGAGALDR-GINNUNGAKAOS”

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  5 Responses »
Jul 082014
 

Three years have passed since the release of Schwarzpfad, the last studio album by Ukraine’s Kroda, which remains one of my all-time favorite pagan/black metal albums. The year 2012 brought us a live album (Live Under Hexenhammer: Heil Ragnarok!) and last year Kroda released a compilation (Varulven) that included several departures in style, including two cover songs, but I’m still feeling a yearning for an album-length work of new songs. It appears my wish will be fulfilled.

I’ve been in contact with Kroda’s Eisenslav, and he has disclosed that a new full-length album is being created, under the title GinnungaGap-GinnungaGaldr-GinnungaKaos. As for the meaning of the title, GinnungaGap is the name in Nordic mythology of the vast primordial abyss from which the cosmos was created and into which it will fall again at the time of Ragnarok — the source of runes and magic, the source of wisdom and titans, and at the same time the source of evil and chaos. An epic name for what we hope will be an epic album.

Eisenslav was also good enough to share with me three promo tracks, which I have permission to share with you. These are untitled at this point and without vocals — and when the album recording begins, the music will be completely re-recorded with live drums, vocals, and traditional instruments. But to these ears they sound really good already. The music is soul-stirring and sweeping, both heavy and atmospheric (especially in an almost meditative passage in the third track), with memorable melodies and surging power. Continue reading »

NEW MUSIC ON THE WAY FROM FAITH NO MORE AND PINK FLOYD (!!)

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  9 Responses »
Jul 062014
 

 

The news in this post is guaranteed to elicit a chorus of FUCK YEAHs from old farts like me, as well as younger farts who know what’s up: it appears that both Faith No More and Pink Floyd are recording new music.

FAITH NO MORE

On Friday, July 4, the reactivated Faith No More performed live at Hyde Park in London, wearing the garb of priests. According to eye-witnesses, they played two new songs, one at the conclusion of their regular set (right after “Ashes To Ashes”) and a second at the end of their two-song encore (the first of which was “We Care A Lot”).

A variety of fan-filmed videos have surfaced, highlighting the new songs. Most of the videos aren’t very good, but I’ve gathered up the ones I’ve seen so far and have embedded them after the jump.

It stands to reason that if Faith No More are playing new songs, they will soon be recording new songs. Am I right? Yes, I am right.

More details can be found here and here. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: STRIKER, BYZANTINE, 1349, DROWNED, DEATHEMBER, JUCIFER

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  9 Responses »
Jul 052014
 

Happy Fourth of July Hangover Day. Hope none of you American readers lost any fingers in a gunpowder accident, put out an eye with an errant sparkler, or lit off a bottle rocket in your ass. I have some news items and new metal for you that I spotted over the least 24 hours. This is a big collection, but what else have you got to do?

STRIKER

Striker are from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Metal Archives says they are a power metal band. This means the odds are very high that I won’t be able to stand their music. However, the cover art for their new album City of Gold is so goddamned awesome that I may be forced to listen to at least one song whenever the first advance track appears. You can click the image above to view a larger version of the piece, which is by one of my favorite metal artists, Berlin-based Eliran Kantor.

The album is due from Napalm Records on September 9 in North America (Aug 29 in Europe, September 1 in the UK). If anyone can give me a reason to bury my prejudices and listen to a Striker song, I will try to keep an open mind.

https://www.facebook.com/strikermetal Continue reading »

FIREWORKS FOR THE FOURTH: PANTHEON I, MAN MUST DIE, BOTANIST, THE RAGNAROK PROPHECY

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  12 Responses »
Jul 042014
 

 

Google Analytics tells me that over the last 30 days 40.10% of the visitors to our site were located in the United States. Because we math like some motherfuckers, we are able to determine that 59.90% of visitors over the last 30 days were from other nations. For them, today is just another day. So we’ll get the obligatory USA! USA! USA! chant out of the way by celebrating one of our nation’s greatest accomplishments on this July 4th via the video above.

Okie dokie, now that we’ve had our Fourth of July celebration, let’s move along to some musical fireworks. Here are four recommended new metal songs that appeared over the last 48 hours.

PANTHEON I

As we’ve previously reported, Oslo’s Pantheon I have a new album entitled From the Abyss They Rise that’s due for release on August 14 by Non Serviam Records. It includes both an EP’s worth of new songs plus older compositions, including their first demo tracks from a decade ago. Yesterday I caught up to a stream of one of the new songs that appeared on July 2. Continue reading »

NEW MUSIC FROM NECROS CHRISTOS: “NINE GRAVES”

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  6 Responses »
Jul 032014
 

I was caught napping. In an April round-up of new music, I included just a snippet of a song from the then-forthcoming EP Nine Graves by Germany’s Necros Christos — a release I’ve really been looking forward to. And then about 15 minutes ago I noticed that Nine Graves is now out and available for order on CD from Sepulchral Voice Records and Ván Records.

What’s more, I noticed that the album’s cover art (above) had been released (I’m trying to determine who created it) — and after a bit more poking around I found a stream of the album’s title song in its entirety.

Nine Graves includes nine tracks, described as “two new exclusive songs [the title track and “Black Bone Crucifix”], re-recorded yet totally new arranged versions of two old band classics [“Va Koram Do Rex Satan” and “Baptized By The Black Urine Of The Deceased”], plus four interludes [Temples I – IV] and one huge, persian influenced midtro… [the latter named “Gate”]”. Continue reading »

AVOIDING SHAME: FUNEREAL PRESENCE (“THE TOWER FALLS”) AND SHORES OF NULL (“KINGS OF NULL”)

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  1 Response »
Jul 032014
 

I’m mainly putting these two songs here so that, six months from now, when I include them in our list of 2014’s Most Infectious Extreme Metal Songs, I won’t have to cringe in shame and admit that I never wrote about them.

FUNEREAL PRESENCE

This New York band’s debut album The Archer Takes Aim was released in March by The Ajna Offensive. It’s “only” four tracks long, but those songs add up to nearly 50 minutes of music. The opening song is “The Tower Falls”. It’s 12 1/2 minutes long and still ends too soon, as far as I’m concerned.

I don’t need to tell you that some of the best metal songs in creation are long-form creations. But our Most Infectious list isn’t necessarily about the best songs. The songs have to be good, mind you, but the main criteria is that they have to be catchy, hard to forget, addictive — and those aren’t the first qualities that principally come to mind (or at least my addled mind) when you think about epic-length music.

No doubt, long jams can have more powerful and lasting effects on your mental and emotional states than short blasts of hook-filled, neck-throttling energy. But you often live in them “in the moment”. They don’t necessarily drift back into your mind and start replaying themselves without any conscious volition of your own. But “The Tower Falls” does that. Continue reading »

BLACK THRASH: TRIUMPHANT, SLAUGHTER MESSIAH, DRUIDUS, GOATHAMMER

 Album Reviews, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC, SHORT BUT SWEET  10 Responses »
Jul 022014
 

Relatively late in my life as a metalhead I’m discovering that I like thrash/speed-metal riffs best when they’re served up black on the outside and bloody on the inside. In this post I’ve collected some music from four underground bands that have been feeding that particular hunger.

TRIUMPHANT

Triumphant is the name of a band from Innsbruck, Austria, that used to be called Manic Disease. Their debut album, Herald the Unsung, was released in March of this year in vinyl by Heavy Forces Records and on CD by Cyclone-Empire.

My pal KevinP recently sent me a link to the album’s title track, and I was hooked from the opening seconds by the highly infectious and caustically blistering riffs that propel the music like a rocket. The song does have its off-speed moments, which are drenched in dark melody and surrounded by an aura of doom, and they’re part of what makes this long song so appealing. The vocalist, by the way, sounds like he has rabies — unhinged and biting. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: CEREMONIAL CASTINGS, MARTYRDÖD, MUTILATION RITES, ONI, THROES

 Exceptions to the Rule, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  9 Responses »
Jul 022014
 

Collected here are four new songs and one teaser reel of new music from five bands that I heard over the last 24 hours and believe are worth throwing at your head like a nail bomb. I present the music in alphabetical order by band name.

CEREMONIAL CASTINGS

Go ahead, click that image above to enlarge it. I’ll wait.

Pretty fuckin’ cool, isn’t it? It’s the creation of Belgian artist Kris Verwimp and it graces the cover of a new album entitled Cthulhu by Ceremonial Castings. Cthulhu will be this Washington State duo’s eighth album and it’s due for release on July 8. Based on descriptions on the band’s Facebook page, it will be a monumental concept album spanning 2 CDs, the first consisting of 11 tracks divided into three chapters, with a total run-time of more than 70 minutes, and the second consisting of a single 61-minute work entitled “Cthulhu Unbound”. Continue reading »

CANNIBAL CORPSE DELIVER A NEW SONG: “SADISTIC EMBODIMENT”

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  12 Responses »
Jul 012014
 

This morning we gleefully delivered the cover art, album title, and projected release information for the new album by Cannibal Corpse — A Skeletal Domain. And now, a few short hours later, we find that Metal Blade has released the first advance track from the album for public streaming. The song’s name is “Sadistic Embodiment” — and goddamn, it’s a scorcher. This album was produced by Mark Lewis (The Black Dahlia Murder, DevilDriver) instead of Erik Rutan, who produced the band’s last three albums, but it still sounds decimating.

The album will be released on September 16 and pre-orders are now being accepted here. Listen to the new track next. Continue reading »

VIDEOGRAPHY: WRETCHED, EASTERN FRONT , DOMINIA

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  6 Responses »
Jul 012014
 

Yesterday I posted three videos that I liked despite the fact that they weren’t exactly in our wheelhouse or down the middle of the NCS fairway or [insert other sports cliches]. For those of you who might have wanted something mo metal, I have the following three videos that appeared since I wrote that earlier post.

WRETCHED

The first video is for the song “Wetiko” from the album Cannibal by North Carolina’s Wretched. DGR praised the album in his review for us earlier in June.

The well-made video (directed by Eric Richter) focuses on the band performing (as well as some self-satisfied assholes behind a pulpit). It effectively combines slo-mo footage with seizure-inducing bursts of speed. Also, frontman Adam Cody looks really, really pissed-off. Also, lots of skulls.

The music, of course, is a blast of manic intensity. Catch it next. Continue reading »

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